Did our home study for Simmons & Honcho today.  It rained right before we got there & they live down a road that...........well......... shall we say is a little challenging after a rain.  One of their neighbor's had sand bags along the road to divert water, if that gives you a clue.  

Pretty area though they have a great view of the Huachuca Mountains, & the roads probably keep people that like sidewalks & Circle K's from thinking about moving to the country........!!!!!  

First thing I noticed is there is only 2 or 3 mesquite trees in the pasture........Yippee.....!!!  Simmons doesn't have a weight problem, but Honcho always has.  Right now he is plumping up nicely with the bean season in full swing.  The pasture is native stuff & we talked to them about not even feeding the donkeys as long as the "weeds" are out there.  

They have a quarter horse gelding, that is quite a character, wanted to be right in the middle of us when we went out to look things over. The donkeys have been around horses, but Copper hasn't been around donkeys, so the first day or so will probably be interesting for all.............!!!!! We'll move them next Sunday the 5th of Aug.  Simmons has a date with the vet the 3rd to have a piece of skin removed from his nose.  It has gotten caught on something & when it healed it didn't lay down.  It looks something like a skin tag & I seriously thought of sneaking up on him with a scalpel & cutting it off.  But I also thought of many things that could go wrong with such a thought, & decided to let the vet do it.

Tonight Pancho went into Honcho's pen, Honcho went into Simmons & Pancho's pen to see how he & Simmons would get along.  Needless to say when Simmons got thru acting like an idiot with Tula & went in his pen, he was shocked at this turn of events.  Simmons is a little food aggressive, & Pancho has learned the drill to stay out of trouble & still get to eat.  When he started acting like it was HIS hay, I got in his face & we had a "chat".  We chatted 3 or 4 times & I finally decided to put hay in 2 places at least for tonight.  They both eat fast & got finished in record time & I really shouldn't worry about Honcho not getting enough to eat.  For all of Honcho's quirkiness he is not a fighter, nor will he stand up to the other donkeys.  If there is a problem he just finds something else to do.  Might be a good way to put him on a diet, I guess.........!!!!   LOL

This is Simmons yesterday following John into his pen for breakfast.  He was down at Tula's pen, which absolutely drives her crazy, she hates it when any of the riff raff get in HER pen.  And he is like most guys, completely oblivious to her reaction to his devotion.

This morning he decided he wasn't going to leave her side, no matter what, so around & around we all went, Tula usually in the lead, John & I trying to separate them enough for her to get in the pen & one of us to shut the gate.  And a very determined Simmons, staying close enough to touch her, which REALLY irritates her.  She finally took off at a dead run, caught him flat footed, & I got to the gate before he did.  Even then he kept trying to turn back to her pen before finally giving up.  

We're doing a home study tomorrow for Simmons & Honcho..........won't be any girls in that home, sorry Simmons.........!!!!

Got an e-mail this morning from Stacy Bijou's foster Mom.  He looks like he's doing real good, with his new little friends.  Little being the optimum word here, he's the big boy in the herd.  

Looks like we're having mini horse races.....!!! 

 And no boots on Bijou......WOO WOO....!!!!

Cinnamon is 24 inches tall

This morning the phone rang & I learned from a neighbor that Boaz was "out & about", headed down the road towards the driveway gate.  Well at least he was hanging around the neighborhood.  

John was already outside, so I yelled at him hopefully so he could get out to the gate & open it before Boaz came by. 

He got out there & when he opened the gate, Boaz literally picked up the pace to get thru it, so I guess being out wasn't as much fun as he thought it would be.  I thought he'd come to me for security, but when I called him, he picked up the pace even more, made a wide berth around me, & went to find the other donkeys.  Hmmmm........guess I know where I rate now.  LOL

Yesterday Jewel the black horse visiting with her new friends went to a new home.  Patti had been trying to find a good home for her for quite sometime & one finally showed up.  It was a day trip away, so she asked if Joyce, another friend & I wanted to go.  Of course we did, so I left John with chores & off we went.  

After we delivered Jewel we wandered all over Cochise County, Douglas, lunch at the Gadsden Hotel, Bisbee to look at the Lavender Pit, & Tombstone, just for a "drive-thru",  Did stop for ice cream in Benson, of course by this time, I was pretty sure John was already doing evening chores, so why hurry, right?  LOL  He wasn't done when I got home, so I didn't completely escape.  

This morning was ..........interesting..........!!!!  As usual on race night we got to bed about 3am.  Woke up at 7 which is about an hour later than John usually hops out of bed.  I'm not really a morning person & hopping out of bed, does not appeal to me.  I like to gently "mosy" out of bed over a  1/2 hour or so.  But I sacrificed this morning because we were late.  

John goes out before I do, to start the round-up.  When I went out he was mumbling to himself.  It seems when he went out most if not all of them were out by the pens.  Tula took one look at him, & headed for Burroland, with a trail of her loyal followers right behind her.  There are always a few that are devoted to the idea of getting fed in their pens, but the rest of them were gone.  

Lately this has been a daily routine, the bean season makes them forget they are "domesticated" animals.  And yesterday rather than put up with their nonsense when we wanted to round them up a couple of hours early, so we could go racing, we just left them in the pens after breakfast.  Hmmmmmm..........I'm sure this morning was payback for them being so mistreated.

I grabbed a whip, (they make a swishing noise that the donkeys hate) & took off.  They weren't hard to find, because Chantilly brayed & gave away their hideout.  Tula is the only one I go after, get her going & the rest will follow.  A couple of "swishes" with the whip in the air, & a "rawhide yell or two", & the stampede was well under way.  John said he never saw Frijolita move that fast.  BlackJack was running & kicking to the side.  It's always amazing how they come over here in a panic & as soon as they get close to the pens, it's back to standing around like they have no clue what they are suppose to do...........!!!  Boaz did a couple of laps around the pens, & Simmons decided he didn't want to be herded, but he'd follow John into the pen.  It is always fun to watch their thought process, no matter how irritating it can be..............!!!  

I forgot we were suppose to do a home study today with Cindy & Tom.  Tom called & asked if we were coming.  It's not the first time I've got my schedule messed up, but I certainly hope it is the last.  Too much going on in too many different directions I guess.  We'll try for next Sunday, I circled it on my calendar in bright orange, so hopefully I won't forget again.  

John took my race car to a friend to "fix" before next Saturday.  The track was real slick last night, & brakes were rather optional, since they didn't stop the cars because of the wet track.  They threw the yellow flag, everyone was trying to slow down, actually some of them managed.  Unfortunately for the rest of us, it turned into a crash fest, brakes on, sliding into the car in front of you, & the guy behind you sliding into you.  The guy in front of me has a high back & my front is low, so I telescoped under his trunk.  My car was making "fan hitting" noises, but was still moving, so I continued, until it got too hot from the radiator being damaged, & the computer shut the engine off.  The front got a little bit "mushed" & needs to be straightened, so they can get the radiator out & put in a new one.  Will is good at straightening, & said he'd do it, which is great.  John's real good at body work, but when it gets into frame & braces, it takes the right tools. 

REFLECTION TIME........!!

Lately I have come to the conclusion that 3 of my donkeys will never have a home & family of their own.  Why you might ask?  

Cisco was a roping donkey in a roping school.  He was loaned out to the students to take home to practice their new found skills, until he shut down emotionally from the experience.  

When he came in besides not interacting with anything going on around him, he had horrible sores from a immunity problem that causes fly bites to erupt, which causes itching, which makes him scratch, causing sores, draws flies, etc, etc.  During the fly season he gets doctored every day to help keep him as sore free as possible.  

Quilla had years of neglect for fly damage on his front legs.  The resulting scars are like a picnic for stable flies & they can cause bloody sores in record time, without regular attention.  

 

Boaz had a wound at sometime on his knee that wasn't treated & developed a large growth of proud flesh that also wasn't treated.  At sometime in his life he has been on a ranch (he's branded) in with a bunch of other jacks, I would imagine.  The only use for a bunch of young jacks is roping.  He is covered with scars of one kind or another, probably from fighting.

My point is, all three of these guys are so gentle & so appreciative of attention.  They are perfect ambassadors for people that have never been around donkeys, because of their sweet nature.  

When someone comes out to look for a new member of their family, they never even give these 3 a second look once they find out they take daily care in the summer.

They don't know what they are missing, these guys are "silk purses" if only people could see beyond the scars & extra care they need.  

Just got back in the house from rolling Pepper over so he could get up.  The neighbor called & had just noticed him down.  This is the 2nd time in 3 days we've had to get him up, not sure what's going on.  He went for months without getting down on his right side.  It's really humid right now & he was pretty wore out, but finally managed to get up.  We let him rest for a few minutes & then headed back for the house.  Along the way he found some mesquite beans to build up his strength I guess.  At least if he doesn't come in for feeding, we'll know what direction to go to find him, we left him happily munching beans.

Actually the beans are about gone, we didn't have as many as we usually have, for some reason.  Too cold or too hot at the wrong time I guess.  It looks like we won't have to let the range cattle into Burroland this year, unless of course the mesquite set a 2nd crop of beans, which they are quite capable of doing.  

I might be a little quiet for awhile.  Mother is now living with us, & it looks like we already have a buyer for her house.  So we will have to get the house ready.  That means the 3 pile rule, pile to keep, pile to sell or give away, pile to throw away.  Mother is not as much of a hoarder as I am, but she has enough "STUFF" to keep us busy for awhile.  Once we figure out what to keep, we'll have a yard sale, then give away what's left I guess.   I admire people that like to go thru "stuff" & prowl around in it.  I like to have my stuff, but I don't necessarily want to mess with it.  Mother isn't sentimental, so hopefully she won't want to keep much.

Changed Jenny's foot bandage yesterday.  Her foot looks good, it's staying dry except, for sweating, which makes it feel icky when we first unwrap it.  But a few minutes under a fan, the foot feels dry, so we can rewrap it.  

The biggest problem is keeping the Hoof Wraps on her foot.  When she loses one, it's usually when she is dust bathing, not sure why that pulls them off, but it does.  Usually the Vel-cro is still closed. There are dusting areas all over the 30 acres, so it's a challenge to find the boots.  They make it so much easier to keep her foot clean, I ordered a couple more yesterday, so now I have 5 of them.  Hopefully they will last until we no longer have to bandage her. 

This is what happens if you leave the hay cart unattended & it is discovered by "bored" donkeys.  Once they found out there wasn't any hay in the buckets, they went on to bigger & better fun I guess. 

A couple came out yesterday to see about adding a couple of donkeys to their family.  Looks like Simmons & Honcho got the nod.  I explained that Honcho has been thru here 4 times, twice because his family moved & twice because he is Honcho which means he has attitude & is very smart.  Guess Cindy likes spunky donkeys.  Simmons isn't any slouch in the spunk department either, so she's probably going to have a lot of fun with those two.  

We'll do a home study in a couple of weeks, & if everything looks good, we'll deliver the boys to their new home.  

Jenny lost her boot again.  SIGH!  They are so difficult to find, especially in the brush.  But they do such a good job of protecting her foot, much better than just the duct tape or Gorilla tape boot.  I went out & looked for it yesterday & didn't find it.  When John came home from town he went out & it didn't take him long to come in carrying the boot.  I think in the future I'll just cut out one step in the search & just rely on him to find it rather than me going out & tramping around in the heat.  LOL

Going racing tonight, should be a fun night.  I'm racing, our son is racing, & Zac is back from college in Pennsylvania & will race his Dad's factory stock.  The Toyota John bought for me to race last year was Zac's race car.  In fact I was riding as a passenger the night Zac won his first race.  He's a great kid, although according to a friend that has seen him, he has really grown & filled out in the year he's been gone.  So maybe I can't call him "kid" anymore. 

MIKE & ZEKE ARE READY TO GO AGAIN....!!

Last October 12th on Donkey Appreciation Day you might remember Mike & Zeke walked from Ft. Huachuca to Tombstone, Arizona to raise money for our rescue.  It was a lot of fun, & Mike's wife Teresa called today to let us know they are going to do another walk-a-thon this year for us, & also for  Care for the Horses, a local horse rescue that help a lot of horses in the area.  Don't have any information yet, except it will be Friday, Oct 12, not even sure where Mike & Zeke will walk from this time.  But they will end up in Tombstone.  Last year we took BlackJack & he actually behaved himself, so maybe we'll take him again this year.  

Of course this morning he went on my "not favorite list".  He actually spends quite a bit of time on that list, although not as much as he did years ago.  He's learned what he can get away with & what he can't, & for the most part stays in the boundaries.  

This morning a friend was driving in the gate & BlackJack made a break for freedom........!!!  I was in the house, but John saw what happened.  The friend came in & told me, so I took off in the golf cart to see if I could help.  I found them, BJ  was eating mesquite beans as fast as he could stuff them in, & John was standing watching him.......!!!! Hmmmm, I asked what was going on & was asked if I brought a halter & lead.  It seems that BJ had staked out where he planned on staying until the beans were all gone & wasn't moving for any reason.  A 4 foot limb whacked across his rather abundant rump changed his mind about moving (John & I have different approaches to unruly donkeys), but of course he didn't go the right direction.  

I went back to get a halter & lead.  Came back & here is John & BJ sauntering down the road like best buds.  John said when BJ stopped he let John walk up to him, & John put his belt around BJ's neck.  By the time I saw them, no belt, but John was sharing treats out of the "treat" pocket, & BJ was more than happy to mozy along beside John. 

WHO KNEW.......!!

I learn something new every day, hopefully it is something useful.  Not always, but if not, at least it's something that I had no clue about before.  

The well guy is here right now, pulling the pump & dropping dry ice down the well.  I guess he put chemicals in first & then added dry ice which is suppose to make the water boil so the chemicals get pushed around & hopefully clean out the perforations that let the water in.  I guess between rust & calicum, not much water is getting in, at least that's what we're hoping.

Sunday we picked up the water wagon from Jon & Linda's.  John kept saying bowser & I finally figured out he was talking about the water wagon.  I try to keep things simple, & figured this was a "technical" term the Air Force came up with.  John still likes to use all that military jargon if he can.  Imagine my surprise when I did a search & found out it's a common term, I just never had heard it before.  The internet is such a wealth of information, even if some of it has to be taken with a grain of salt.  So now I have a new word to try to dump into a conversation, I have a feeling it "ain't" going to be easy........!!! LOL

Yesterday John went to have his eyes checked.  He's been having light shows & eclipses in his eyes & thought it was time to see what was going on.  He started to tell the technician about them & the guy started telling John what he was seeing, when it happens.  Even showed him pictures.  Has anyone ever heard of ocular migraines?  We sure hadn't. There's not much treatment if any for it, you just live with it I guess.

We changed Jenny's foot bandage this morning.  The hot weather is making her foot sweat which makes the bandages damp.  I'd love put some Vet Powder all over her foot to help keep it dry.  Last week it was really soggy & gunky, I cleaned it up & we let her foot air dry for about an hour before rebandaging it.  I did put a little Vet Powder around the coronet, & it looks a lot drier & tighter, if that makes sense.  So I figure it might be good on the whole foot.  Just called the vet clinic to see what they think.  By the way, when we had Jenny in the changing room, i.e. garage, Pancho waited patiently for her to come outside.  That's the first time one of the boys has actually waited for her.  She certainly has a following, most of the boys seem to think she's just what they want............!!!

Last night John noticed Chantilly was still limping a little bit on her right front.  She came here in January & we've never "messed" with her much.  She had learned to stay away from people by hiding behind Zorro & Rambo.  She come a long ways, insists we pet her when we feed & will come up to us anyplace on the property.  But none of that halter & picking up feet stuff.  John came in the feed room & said she let him pick up her foot & he could see the ouside was about an inch higher than the inside & the bar was way too long.  Don't know if that's the problem, but figured it wouldn't hurt to trim it off if we could.  We got it done, with a few abortive attempts, but she let John hold the foot up & me gnaw at it with my compound nippers .  It wasn't pretty, but at least the foot is level now.  Haven't noticed how she's walking today.

Boaz has a problem with habronema like Cisco, but he doesn't seem to be allergic to them.  He's had a place on his chest that today finally opened up & I can see them in there.  It's just a sore & not inflamed like Cisco would be.  So I slathered on some Ivermectin wormer, which should kill the little devils.  Still doctoring his knee, & the actual scab is still getting smaller.